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Monday, September 30, 2013

The family of a man whose brutal beating by five Atlantic
City police officers was captured on a shocking surveillance video and aired on
a New Jersey TV station Friday says they now plan to file a lawsuit over the
incident.

In the video, 20-year-old David Connor Castellani is seen
being bitten by a police dog as well as thrashed by the officers. He was
charged with assault on a police officer, an accusation his attorney says was
without any basis.

“If he committed any of the offenses they charged him with,
he wouldn’t be on the other side of the street figuring out a way to get home —
he’d be under arrest,” lawyer Steve Scheffler told an Atlantic City local
newspaper. “I certainly don’t see aggravated assault on a police officer or a
K-9. Quite frankly, I don’t see resisting, either.”

Scheffler is defending Castellani against the criminal
charges he now faces.

The incident occurred shortly after 3 am on June 15, when
Castellani had been ejected from the Tropicana casino for reasons that remain
uncertain. A local TV news report said he was kicked out for being underage.

One of the officers involved in the savage beating has faced
accusations of excessive force at least three times before.

The video shows officers tackling Castellani then striking
him with batons and their knees. About a minute into the beating, a police K-9
vehicle shows up and the cops release an attack dog on the fallen Castellani.

NEWARK, N.J. - Police are searching for the suspects who
attacked a man at a cemetery in Newark, New Jersey.

On a Sunday morning, out of devotion to deceased loved one,
the 75-year-old man and his wife came to tend a gravesite, a heartfelt
tradition that was horribly, painfully, brutally interrupted.

"He was approached by two males who grabbed him choked
him, slashed him, forced him to the ground, continued to assault him,"
said Thomas Fennelly, the Essex County Assistant Prosecutor.

One frail man, defenseless against two young men, who not
only beat him mercilessly, they then stole his car, which police have
recovered. They are combing it for evidence that may lead to the attackers.

SAN FRANCISCO - A desperate father made a public plea
Sunday for witnesses to his son's murder after the man suspected of the killing
was set free due to a lack of evidence

Jonathan Denver of Fort Bragg was stabbed to death Wednesday
night after the San Francisco Giants game just a few blocks from AT&T Park.
His family spoke out Sunday in an effort to get a conviction in his case.

Robert Preece, his voice quavering at times, spoke in front
of the ballpark's iconic Willie Mays statue before the Giants played the San
Diego Padres.

"You all must understand how incredibly difficult this
is and has been for me and my family," Preece said.

He was flanked by family members who handed out fliers to
fans streaming into the stadium.

The fight Wednesday night ended with the death of his
24-year-old son, Jonathan Denver.

"Losing a child is a heartache no parent should have to
endure," Preece said. "My son Robert lost his best friend and
brother."

Police say Denver was with his family dressed in Dodgers
gear leaving a bar at Third and Harrison streets when words were exchanged with
some Giants fans. A fight began and Denver was stabbed.

Michael Montgomery of Lodi was arrested but later released
due to a lack of evidence. The 21-year-old's father says his son told him that
Denver hit him over the head with a chair and he stabbed him in self-defense.

A second suspect was questioned and released by police
Friday. Two others were being sought.

Preece, who works as a security guard for the Dodgers, made
this public appeal for witnesses to come forward.

"The Montgomery family is likely suffering as
well," Preece said. "I am making a plea to the public asking that
anyone who may have witnessed the incident to come forth so that both families
can have some measure of closure. I believe that someone may have videotaped
the incident and can help us discover the truth."

Denver's mother, Diana Denver, said in a prepared statement
that she was angered by Montgomery's release and what she called "the
negligence of our justice system."

The victim's aunt, Jill Haro Preece read the mother's
statement after Diana Denver said she was too emotional to address the dozen of
cameras and reporters assembled in front of Mays' statue.

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said police
had not spoken with any independent witnesses who may have witnessed the fight,
which is what prompted Preece and his family to make their public plea.

The family passed out flyers before the Giants game asking
for information in the crime.

During the game, a rare appearance by a smiling Bryan Stow,
the Giants fan who was brutally beaten outside Dodger Stadium in 2011. He has
permanent brain damage. This week the Giants held fundraisers for Bryan.

"I want to thank all those that have sent their
condolences, including the Stow family, my family at Dodgers," Preece
said.

The flyers being passed out Sunday urge the public to call
the San Francisco Police Department or the district attorney's office if they
have any information.

In a devastating medical mix-up, a four-month-old baby in
the Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva was accidentally given a
bottle containing the breast milk of an HIV carrier.

The incident occurred on
Saturday, but the source of the milk was only confirmed as an HIV carrier on
Monday. The error was first reported by Channel 10 television.

The baby was supposed to have been given his mother’s pumped
breast milk, but a nurse apparently provided the wrong bottle.

The baby’s
mother noticed that the name on the bottle was not her son’s while feeding him
and alerted the hospital staff. For security reasons, parents do not have
access to the refrigerator in which the pumped breast milk is stored.

Tests run on both mothers revealed that the woman whose
breast milk the baby drank was an HIV carrier. She was breast-feeding her own
baby because she had not been previously diagnosed and was unaware that she was
a carrier.

After consulting experts in infectious diseases, Schneider
began giving preventive treatment to the baby who received the virus-carrying
milk. The treatment, which resembles that given to medical staff or rape
victims who may have been exposed to the virus, will continue for several months
and the baby will be tested regularly.

The hospital stressed that “the chances of contracting the
virus from a one-time feeding with a carrier’s breast milk are negligible. We
don’t know of a single case of infection with the virus after a one-time feeding
with an HIV carrier’s breast milk that has been described in the international
medical literature.”

The preventive treatment “significantly reduces the chances
of contracting the virus, and is particularly effective [when given] soon after
the date of exposure,” the hospital added. “This treatment is also given in
situations where it’s still impossible to know for sure whether infection has
occurred.”

Just a few months ago, Schneider received accreditation from
the Joint Commission International. To earn this prestigious international
accreditation, a hospital must prove that it meets high standards of quality
and patient safety.

The hospital said it “deeply regrets the error and is
conducting a comprehensive investigation in order to learn the lessons and
prevent a recurrence of this incident.

The incident has been reported to the
Health Ministry.” The ministry confirmed that it had received the hospital’s
report.

Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate and prominent
Republican donor, has lost a $60 million libel lawsuit in which he claimed a
Democratic group spread a false accusation that he had condoned prostitution in
his casinos in Macau.

At issue was an article published on July 3, 2012 by the
National Jewish Democratic Council on its website that sought to dissuade
then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other Republicans from accepting
Adelson's allegedly "dirty" and "tainted" money.

It cited reports about an accusation that the Las Vegas
Sands Corp chief executive "personally approved of prostitution" in
his Macau properties.

U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken in Manhattan on Monday
said the article constituted protected speech and was not libelous.

That accusation, which Adelson has denied, surfaced in a
lawsuit brought against him by Steven Jacobs, a fired Las Vegas Sands
executive. The allegedly libelous material contained a hyperlink to an
Associated Press article that discussed Jacobs' lawsuit.

Adelson, 80, is worth $28.5 billion and the 11th-richest
American, Forbes magazine said this month, and donated tens of millions of
dollars to Republican candidates and organizations in the 2012 election cycle.

He claimed that the NJDC article was intended to advance the
group's political interests by "assassinating" his character.

But in a 57-page decision, Oetken said Adelson failed to
show that the defendants, which also included NJDC Chairman Marc Stanley and
former NJDC President David Harris, acted with actual malice or reckless
disregard of the truth.

The judge said the expressions "dirty money" and
"tainted money" were imprecise and could not be proven true or false,
and in context constituted protected expressions of opinion.

He also said the use of the hyperlink was proper, and that
the defendant's reliance upon an article from a "reputable" news
organization precluded a finding of liability.

"Protecting defendants who hyperlink to their sources
is good public policy, as it fosters the facile dissemination of knowledge on
the Internet," Oetken wrote. "It is to be expected, and celebrated,
that the increasing access to information should decrease the need for
defamation suits."

Adelson had sought $10 million of compensatory damages and
$50 million of punitive damages. Oetken also ordered him to pay the defendants'
legal fees.

In a phone interview, Stanley said he was pleased with the
decision. "You just can't bully people with your money, and Adelson was
trying to bully us with a lawsuit to suppress our speech during the
election," he said. "David beat Goliath."

L. Lin Wood, a partner at Wood, Hernacki & Evans
representing Adelson, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Hollywood, FL - The third suspicious fire in less than two
years broke out in a shopping plaza in a predominantly Orthodox Jewish
neighborhood in Hollywood early Sunday, causing fire officials to question
whether anti-Semitic motives may be in play.

The SUN SENTINEL reports that the fire gutted two adjacent
restaurants, Achla Pita Grill and Bon Ami Café, within the Emerald Center
located at 5650 Stirling Road in Hollywood.

Both restaurants are owned by Ilan Timianski, and it was the
second time Achla Pita Grill has been targeted within the past year.

In September of 2012, video surveillance footage showed two
masked men wearing hoodies dispensing flammable liquids inside the Achla Pita
Grill kitchen before setting it ablaze.

Hollywood Fire Rescue Division Chief Joel Medina expressed
some concern over the possibility that anti-Semitic motives may be behind the
string of arsons.

“We have some concerns,” Medina said. “We want to make sure
we cover all the bases.”

Local businessman Michael Katz, who was forced to relocate
his Judacia store to another spot in the plaza after it was gutted in a
December fire last year, said two men were also caught on tape exiting through
the alley behind his store in that instance.

“It seems more than a coincidence,” Katz said, speculating
that it was “either random vandalism or it was anti-Semitism.”

Following the last fire, Timianski said videotape revealed
that the arsonists made no attempt to look for money or valuables.

“They didn’t touch anything. They came to make damage,”
Timianski said. “There was nothing taken. So you have to ask, ‘Why focus on a
place like this?’”

The forthcoming installation of a new president at Yeshivat
ChoveveiTorah is scheduled to include a “Roundtable” entitled “Training New Rabbis
for a New Generation,” featuring the newly installed YCT president alongside
four representatives of the non-Orthodox rabbinate as presenters.

This is a
deeply troubling, and telling, development.

Throughout its history, our people have been afflicted with
schismatic movements and sects at odds with the mesorah, or religious
tradition, bequeathed to us at Har Sinai.

Sometimes such “new approaches” openly rejected the Jewish
religious heritage, like the movement that introduced itself in the nineteenth
century as “Reform.” On other occasions, the break with the Jewish past was
more subtle, as in the case of the “Conservative” movement, whose name, though,
was quickly belied by its actions.

Torah giants of decades past warned us to not allow any blurring
of lines between the world of Jews who maintain fealty to the Jewish past and
“new Judaisms” espousing theologies incompatible with our mesorah.

They
accordingly forbade “multidenominational” religious ventures of any sort.

Groups that ignored that wise counsel have come and gone,
even as the movements they sought to treat lightly have gone on to even more
blatant rejection of our heritage, redefining their “Judaisms” according to
their own lights and the whims of the times.

Countless Jews have been led down the path toward Jewish
oblivion by the mesorah-rejecting rabbis of the non-Orthodox movements.

That an
ostensibly Orthodox rabbinical seminary would now provide a prominent public
platform for leaders of those movements to share their wisdom on the subject of
training new rabbis is irony of the most bitter kind.

A yeshiva is a place where Jews rigorously pursue the
timeless truths of Torah.

That leaves no room for those who reject the very
concept that such timeless truths exist. The forthcoming YCT installation
ceremony does violence to this essential principle.

The city’s battle against Orthodox Jewish retail shops that
require “modesty’’ of their customers should go to trial, an administrative
judge has ruled.

Both sides have been fighting for months over signs that
Satmar shops in Williamsburg put in their windows saying, “Entrance here only
for those with modest attire. No Shorts, No Barefoot, No Sleeveless, NO Low Cut
Neckline ALLOWED IN THIS STORE.”

The city argues that the signs are discriminatory against
women, non-Jews and the non-religious by making them feel uncomfortable and
unwelcome in the Lee Avenue stores.

“The whole key is, ‘How does that sign make someone feel?
How would a person feel looking at that sign and [about] whether he or she is
welcome in that store?’ ” Clifford Mulqueen, of the city’s Commission on Human
Rights, said to The Post.

But the shops say the signs are geared toward both sexes —
and don’t single out anyone any differently than a posh eatery that requires a
coat and tie.

“Frankly, it’s very troubling that the commission thinks
it’s OK for the Four Seasons restaurant to impose a dress code but not a bakery
owned by a Hasidic businessman,’’ said lawyer Jay Lefkowitz.

The trial will consist of a two-day hearing in
administrative court in January, officials said.

A Greek newspaper published a rare public apology to a
millionaire Greek-Israeli businessman, saying it wrongfully implicated him in a
massive tax evasion scandal.

The mainstream Sunday newspaper To Vima said it had named
Sabby Mionis as being on the so-called “Lagarde list” of about 2,000 prominent
Greeks who had money stashed in Swiss bank accounts after being “misled by
incorrect information.”

The full-page apology said that Mionis may have been singled
out because he is Jewish and Israeli, which made him “a perfect target for the
media and far-right politicians known for their anti-Semitic views.”

Greek authorities have questioned Mionis about an account
containing some $725 million. Greek media have alleged that the account was
linked to the mother of former Prime Minister George Papandreou.

Mionis has denied the claim, saying the account belonged to
a mutual fund he managed. He has said repeatedly that he was being targeted
because he is Jewish.

Analysts said the apology was likely the result of an
agreement between Mionis, who immigrated to Israel in 1996, and the newspaper.

“I have no specific knowledge of this case, but from my
experience, Greek newspapers never issue such apologies unless it the result of
an agreement, maybe a lawsuit or the threat of one,” said Victor Eliezer, a
prominent media analyst in Athens.

The case made headlines in June when a leading lawmaker from
the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, Ilias Kasidiaris, implied during a
parliamentary debate on the scandal that he is a Holocaust denier.

Mionis had refused to come to Greece to testify before a
committee probing the scandal, saying there were Holocaust deniers on the
committee.

“The Jew Sabby Mionis is key to this case,” Kasidiaris said.
“He won’t come to this committee because there are Holocaust deniers on it. And
indeed there are Holocaust deniers on it.”

Kasidiaris apparently was referring to himself, the only
Golden Dawn lawmaker on the committee.

EAST FISHKILL, N.Y. —
State police are investigating anti-Jewish vandalism at an upstate New York
camp that caters to a largely Jewish clientele.

Troopers in Dutchess County say swastikas were spray-painted
on the windows of two vehicles parked at the Holiday Summer Homes Camp in East
Fishkill, about 60 miles north of New York City. The vandalism happened Friday
night or early Saturday.

Police ask that anyone with information about the incident
call Investigator David Barnard at the Wappinger barracks (845-298-0952).

The CEO of Jewish ambulance service Chevra Hatzalah resigned
on September 28, days after the reported that the Metropolitan Council on
Jewish Poverty had dumped him as a consultant.

Rabbi Dovid Cohen’s ongoing consulting position with the Met
Council ended on the same day the not-for-profit group fired executive director
William Rapfogel, who has since been charged with defrauding the charity in a
$5 million kickback scheme.

The New York Times reported September 26 that Cohen was the
unnamed co-conspirator named in the criminal complaint filed against Rapfogel
on September 24, citing two unnamed sources.

Chevra Hatzalah’s board accepted Cohen’s resignation on
September 29, according to David W. Shipper, a board member of Hatzalah and its
attorney. Shipper said that Cohen did not say why he was resigning.

Rabbi David Yosef, the son of world renown Sephardic
spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, sharply criticized those involved in the
"battle of succession" of the Shas political party, while his father
is still battling for his life in an Israeli hospital.

"I do not know how people in this situation are not
ashamed to busy themselves with these issues at this time. To engage in
fighting over issues of inheritance at this point in time is very ugly,"
Rabbi David said in an interview with Army Radio.

He further slammed the controversy as "disgusting"
and "inappropriate."

"I hope those who engaging in this come to their senses
and return to their prayers and not arguments about who takes over," Rabbi
David said.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef founded the Shas movement in 1984 with
four other Torah scholars to represent the interests of religiously observant
Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish communities.

Shas is known for its Sephardic
Jewish school system and its affiliated political faction. Now that Rabbi
Ovadia Yosef's condition has left him on a respirator in the ICU, there has
been bickering among those who wish to inherit the leadership of the political
party.

Speaking of his 93-year-old father's condition, Rabbi David
said that "Rabbi Chaim Ovadia Yosef made it through the night and his
condition is stable, but is still rocky and very hard." As is customary in
cases of life-threatening illnesses, the name "Chaim" (meaning
"life" in Hebrew) has been added to Rabbi Yosef's name, and his
family have asked people to continue praying for Ovadia Chaim ben Georgia.

A spokesman for Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital has announced
that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's condition remains serious to critical, but continues to be stable.

The Torah scholar's medical staff noted that during the
course of the Saturday night several positive changes took place. The staff
said, "this morning, the attending medical staff will meet to determine
further treatment. The Rabbi is in the Intensive Care Unit in Hadassah Ein
Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem."

Former judge Dan Cohen was sentenced to six years
imprisonment and a NIS 10 million fine on Monday for accepting bribes, fraud
and breach of trust while serving as a director of the Israel Electric
Corporation. The sentence, which was part of a plea bargain agreement between
Cohen and the prosecution, also included a charge of obstruction of justice
relating to Cohen's flight from Israel to escape justice in 2005.

Cohen admitted to accepting a one million euros bribe from
the German company Siemens while negotiating for the purchase of Siemens
equipment in his capacity as an IEC director. He also acknowledged concealing
his connection to the sellers in an IEC land purchase deal.

Cohen, 71, has been in prison in Israel since his
extradition on March 15 from Peru, where he spent seven-and-a half-years on the
run. Peru and Israel do not have an extradition treaty. The judge reduced
Cohen's sentence by the three months he spent in a Peruvian prison awaiting
extradition and the time he has been confined in Israel since his extradition.

The prosecution refused to count the 18 months Cohen spent in
Peru under house arrest towards time served. If he receives a third off his
sentence for good behavior, Cohen could be freed in another three years and
three months.

"There is almost no person or business in Israel that
does not need the [IEC's] services,” wrote Justice Haled Kabub in his sentence
“The acceptance of bribes by such a senior executive - out of pure greed,
extreme in its ugliness - is cynical exploitation and betrayal of the entire
public."

Cohen will have to pay NIS 5 million of the fine within one
year. If he does, the state will ask Panamanian authorities to release funds he
has in a currently-frozen account in that country.

Cohen pleaded guilty to pocketing a bribe of one million
euros during a hotly-contested bidding war between the Siemens Corporation and
General Electric for the sale of three gas-powered turbines to IEC for NIS 370
million. He also pleaded guilty to breach of trust for failing to report to the
IEC Board of Directors that he had a personal relationship with Ezra Harel, the
owner of Rogosin Industries, at a time when the IEC was considering the
purchase of land from Rogosin.

As chairman of the IEC's Asset Committee in 1966, Cohen
warned the IEC Board of Directors that Israel could find itself without a
regular supply of electricity if the company didn’t purchase the Rogosin land
for a new power station. The deal cost the Israeli taxpayer approximately NIS
62.5 million and Cohen received millions of dollars for promoting the sale,
according to the original indictment. However, both the charge of bribery in
connection with the Rogosin land affair and a charge of falsifying corporate
documents were removed from the amended indictment that served as the basis for
the plea deal.

Today, 16 years after the land was purchased, the power
station has still not been built.

Kabub wrote that if the full charges in the Rogosin affair
had remained in the indictment - and been proved - Cohen's sentence would have
reached 10 years in total. The judge added that the sentencing of public officials
convicted of serious crimes had hardened in recent years, in line with an
amendment of the law in 2010 that increased the maximum sentence to 10 years in
prison from seven. Regarding Cohen’s argument that he deserved a shorter
sentence since his crimes were committed before the law was amended, Kabub said
that Cohen only had himself to blame since he was the one who fled justice.

The judge also stressed that the breach of trust was
particularly severe in Cohen’s case as he had served for a short time as a
district court judge and was also a well-known and successful lawyer.
"Cohen did not lack anything; he took the bribes for himself only out of
greed," wrote Kabub.

The state will seize NIS 4 million of Cohen's assets and he
will pay a fine of NIS 6 million. The plea bargain contained no obligation on
Cohen's part to reveal any co-conspirators in the case.

A couple of weeks ago, New York City Councilman David G.
Greenfield introduced a bill that would bar the New York City Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene from requiring informed consent for metzitzah b'peh.

Metzitzah is a practice where a ritual circumciser, or
mohel, sucks out blood from a baby’s penis after circumcision, in accordance
with an ancient tradition followed by Hasidic groups as well as some other
Orthodox communities.

The N.Y. health department has linked several infant deaths
to MBP. In response, the City passed a measure requiring the infant’s parent or
guardian to sign a document informing them that the Department of Health
recommends against performing this act because of the risks associated with the
practice.

Documented risks include the transmission of the herpes
simplex virus and other infections.

Even though New York City is not trying to ban this practice
but to merely inform parents of its potential health risks, several prominent
Jewish organizations, including Agudath Israel of America, sued the city,
arguing that a consent form infringes on their freedom of religion,
unconstitutionally compels speech, and violates Jewish law. (In January a
federal judge denied a request for a preliminary injunction against the
regulation. The case is currently pending before the Second Circuit as of a
brief filed in April.) Echoing a similar sentiment, Councilman Greenfield
introduced his legislation to prevent informed consent at a September 12 City
Council meeting.

But rather than oppose the consent process, the Hasidic
community should champion informed consent – and do so from an authentically
Jewish perspective.

That is because Judaism places great value in the knowledge
and awareness of potential medical health risks.

Under Jewish law, a doctor cannot forcibly heal a patient;
s/he must inform the patient (or their legal guardian) of the risks of medical
treatment (Igros Moshe, Choshen Mishpat II:73e). While a formal consent form is
unnecessary in Jewish law, it is the accepted modern-day method of informing
patients about a procedure, the options, and the risks so that the patient can
make an educated decision.

Informed consent in the medical context is particularly
relevant and appropriate in the case of metzitzah because the Talmud views it
as a procedure to protect the health of a child through what was once believed
to be a hygienic medical practice (Tractate Shabbos 133B). Medieval Torah
scholar and physician Maimonides reiterates that the reason for the suction is
medical in nature: “so the child does not come in danger.” (Mishneh Torah,
Hilchot Milah 2:2).

Today the mainstream medical community recommends safe
antiseptic and antibiotic techniques to assist the healing process and stop the
bleeding. The ancient method of suction has been jettisoned and medical
professionals strongly recommend against allowing saliva to come in contact
with the wound.

Modern Orthodox Jews have by and large abandoned direct
metzitzah b'peh as a largely outdated medical procedure. The Rabbinical Council
of America, the main union of modern Orthodox rabbis, advocates for methods
that don’t involve direct oral suctioning; rather they initiate indirect
suction using a sterile tube or sponge to avoid any contact between the mohel's
mouth and the open wound, thereby eliminating the risk of infection.

However, many Hasidic Jews believe that this practice was
not simply ancient medicine. The 17th century Kabbalist Rabbi Avraham Azulei
relates the procedure to the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden.

The mouth that
ate the fruit in the garden brought sin into the world and therefore must be
used to perfect the human body during the circumcision. To accomplish this,
Azulei says that the mouth must come in direct contact with the wound.

Because of this and other mystical reasons, some Hasidic
Jews consider direct contact to be required under Jewish law.

Regardless of the mystical significance of this practice,
considering what is now known about germs and viruses, under Jewish law,
parents should be informed of the potential health risks such a practice poses
to an infant.

Even though some in the Orthodox Jewish community argue that
it is inconclusive that babies died from herpes transmitted through this
ritual, it is still prudent to be aware of the medical advice of the American
Academy of Pediatrics, the Center for Disease Control, NY DOHMH and others that
warn of the risks.

No harm could ever come from additional medical knowledge.

There is nothing to fear here, and the Hasidic community should welcome this
information and make their choices accordingly.

Metzitzah is not the only area where some Hasidic groups are
not taking advantage of modern medical information. Recently there have been
several outbreaks of generally controlled diseases such as measles and mumps,
afflicting unvaccinated children in these communities. The reluctance to be
informed on the advances of modern medicine may also be reflected in the
opposition to informed consent with metzitzah.

Perhaps the New York City consent form will help insular
Hasidic communities embrace medical knowledge by understanding the health risks
of practices like metzitzah b'peh, and the health risks of not vaccinating
children, so they can make better educated decisions for the health and welfare
of their families.

By Rabbi Eliyahu Fink and Eliyahu Federman

Rabbi Eliyahu Fink is the rabbi at the Pacific Jewish Center
in Venice, CA. Eliyahu Federman writes on religion and culture at the
Huffington Post, USA Today, The Forward, and elsewhere.

The Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court extended the remand of
Ali Mansouri, who is being charged with being an Iranian spy.

The police said that Mansouri hadn't divulged all the
information concerning his activities in Israel and asked that his remand be
extended.

Mansouri was arrested by the Shin Bet two and a half weeks ago,
when he tried to leave Israel.

The police announced the arrest on Sunday. When
asked about the decision to lift the gag order on the case, the police
representative said that the decision came down from a high-ranking police
officer and wasn't made by the investigation team itself.

He also said that Mansouri was interrogated a number of
times and gave an account of his activities in Israel.

Israeli security officials suspect that Mansouri, who
traveled under the guise of a Belgian businessman Alex Mans, was conducting
business dealings as a cover for intelligence gathering and terrorism.

They
said Iran was also trying to use him to bypass the embargo on trade and
financial transactions with Iran.

During his trips to Israel – the one this month was his
third since last year – Mansouri tried to make contact with Tel Aviv business
people, presenting himself as a Belgian businessman who sells windows and
roofing for stores and restaurants. Several websites and a Facebook page had
been created to make him seem legitimate.

Lebanon is homing in on Israel's territorial waters,
according to a report in Globes.

Official Israeli sources told the newspaper that Lebanon is
about to award offshore oil and gas exploration licenses in areas that encroach
on Israel's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Lebanon published tenders for offshore oil and gas
exploration licenses in early September, in five blocks in its EEZ.

It is a highly provocative act which has the potential to
greatly inflame hostilities between the two nations.

“Israeli sources who examined the coordinates found that the
area of the southernmost license, Block 9, encroaches on the border that Israel
claims for its EEZ,” wrote Globes. “This license is considered attractive with
high chances of a major natural gas discovery.”

Israel's Petroleum Commissioner Alexander Varshavsky
presented the findings of this review at an international energy conference in
Cyprus two weeks ago. He emphasized that Israel has refrained from taking
similar steps, and did not award oil and gas exploration licenses in disputed
areas.

Adv. David Kornbluth, an expert in national borders, told
Globes that Israel could lose its claim to the disputed area unless it takes
active steps in response to the Lebanese move.

"Legal practice says that a country that does not
respond to such an act is considered as waiving its claim," he said.

In the past, Lebanon has attempted to claim at least part of
Israel's Tamar and Leviathan fields as its own, claiming that parts of the
fields are over the international maritime border, in Lebanese waters. Lebanon
has also made similar claims on gas off the shores of Cyprus.

In 2011, The Israeli Cabinet approved a “marine economic
zone proposal” after Lebanon presented maps to the United Nations, marking
maritime borders that would include part of the giant Leviathan and Tamar
fields. The United Nations previously has refused to take responsibility for
marking the maritime borders.

Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water Joubran Bassil said at
the time that Israel “is playing with fire “by violating Lebanon’s maritime
border and oil rights.”

A few months earlier, the United Nations rejected an attempt
by Lebanon to stop Israel from drilling for oil and natural gas in the
Mediterranean.

U.N. Spokesman Martin Nesirky said at the time that the
mandate of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) “does not include
delineating maritime lines. We are talking about two different things: coastal
waters and a disputed boundary.”

Sunday, September 29, 2013

PLYMOUTH – A
Massachusetts State Police trooper will be charged with OUI and driving to
endanger following a crash that killed a mom and daughter last weekend in
Plymouth.

Plymouth police say Trooper John J. Basler, 25, of Kingston
was off-duty and was driving drunk when a car driven by Susan Macchi, 64, of
Carver collided head-on with his vehicle.

Investigators have said it appeared Macchi’s car crossed the
center line before the crash. However, they are looking into Basler’s role in
the collision.

Macchi and her daughter, Juliet Macchi, 23, were both
killed. Basler suffered non-life threatening injuries in the crash.

A source told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 that Basler’s blood alcohol
level was .26, which is more than three times the legal limit for driving.

In addition to the OUI and driving to endanger charges, he
also faces a charge of carrying a firearm while under the influence of liquor,
according to the Plymouth Police Department, which is investigating the crash
with the assistance of the Massachusetts State Police Accident Reconstruction
Unit.

“This is very upsetting. Its horrific. No one wins in this
situation,” Plymouth Chief Michael Botieri said.

Police say the Macchis and Basler collided with each other
on Federal Furnance Road in Plymouth. Basler was off-duty at the time and,
according to reports, he had been drinking before the crash.

“At this point, we have enough evidence to move forward on
charges of OUI and negligent operation of a motor vehicle,” Botieri said.

One of Basler’s neighbors in Kingston was shocked when he
heard the allegations Saturday. “My wife and I are very sad to hear about the
crash. I know Basler, he’s a nice guy. I am so sorry to hear about him also,”
Jim Reagan said.

Botieri said he has spoken with the Macchi family to let
them know Basler may be facing more charges. “This family has lost two members
and this trooper has some serious issues here,” the police chief said.

A family member of Basler’s told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 that he
had hired a lawyer and would not be commenting.

The state police said the trooper has been placed on leave.
Due to Basler’s injuries, he will be summonsed to Plymouth District Court at a
later date, the Plymouth Police said in a prepared statement Saturday. Further
charges may be filed against the trooper, the police said.

Jerusalem - In a tragic accident in Jerusalem Sunday afternoon,
a ten year old boy was killed when he was knocked off his bicycle after it was
hit by a truck.

The boy was severely injured when his head hit the ground.
Rescue teams arrived within minutes, finding him without a pulse. Unable to
revive him, the teams called for an ambulance to transport the child to Shaare
Tzedek Hospital, where doctors officially recorded his death.

The accident occurred at the Pat Junction in south
Jerusalem, typically a very busy intersection.

Witnesses said that the truck, which
was carrying building materials, hit the child as it was moving at full, but
apparently legal, speed. Rescue workers said that it appeared that the child
had died almost immediately after being hit by the truck, and that there was
nothing they could do to revive him.

Police are questioning the truck driver. No charges are
expected to be filed.

The death at the Pat Junction was actually the second death
of a child Sunday in Jerusalem. Earlier, an eight month old infant died after
she fell unconscious in a nursery in the Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood of the
city. The infant was found by a caretaker, who immediately called rescue teams,
but they were unable to revive her.

The infant died after the caretaker had put her down for a
nap. Police have opened an investigation into the circumstances of her death.
Rescue workers said that the baby appeared to be a victim of crib death, but
that only a full investigation could indicate the true cause of death.

The great leaders of the Haredi world in Israel continue to
attack the current government in an unabashed manner.

According to Kikar Hashabbat, on Thursday night, speaking
before thousands of Chassidim, the Rebbe of Belz Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach
said the coalition partners were “Truly wicked, they want to destroy the world
of Torah, they’re dogs who want to devour and step on Judaism.”

The Rebbe also
encouraged his Chassidim to put away their cellular phones during prayer services,
because this bothers everybody in the synagogue.

He also encouraged them to organize study groups. Regarding
the money his Chassidim are taking from the evil government, the Rebbe said it
was their money, which belonged to them as taxpayers.

But now, he complained
the government wants to take away “even that which we rightfully deserve.”

A Jewish man living in Brooklyn, New York, was the victim of
an anti-Semitic attack on Friday, shortly before the beginning of the Sabbath.

Tzvika Tzuker told Arutz Sheva about the attack. He said he
was walking down the street when suddenly two non-Jewish men began shouting
anti-Semitic abuse.

Tzuker chose not to respond to their insults. However,
instead of calming down, the two began to physically attack him, hitting him in
the face.

Tzuker’s eye was hurt in the incident, and he required
medical care. Police are investigating the incident.

There has been a recent increase in anti-Semitism in New
York, Tzuker said, the reasons for which are unclear. He called on local
authorities to take action quickly, warning that if nothing is done to stop the
increasingly frequent assaults, one islikely to end with more serious injuries.

One of the defendants in a scathing $380 million lawsuit
accusing Yeshiva University of covering up decades of sexual and physical abuse
against students now has a doctor’s note that could get him out of testifying
in the case.

Former Yeshiva University Rabbi Norman Lamm, 85, was
examined on Sept. 16 by neuropsychologist Elise Caccappolo of Columbia
Presbyterian Medical Center, who found that he can’t provide reliable
testimony, Lamm’s lawyer wrote this week.

“Dr. Caccappolo found that a deposition was unlikely to pose
a risk or threat to Dr. Lamm’s health,” lawyer Joel Cohen wrote Judge John
Koetl on Tuesday.

“However, after administering a battery of tests conducted
over a period of nearly five hours, Dr. Caccopolo determined [in her written
report] that ‘the pattern of Dr. Lamm’s cognitive impairment impedes his
ability to independently comprehend and adequately respond to questions posed
to him, as well to reliably retrieve and report past information.”

Lamm retired July 1 — only a few weeks after the university
was slapped with the suit by 19 ex-students of its prestigious all-boys high
school.

In December, Lamm spurred the suit by telling the Jewish newspaper
The Forward that two rabbis were allowed to leave the school quietly after
students accused them of sex abuse.

He was examined after Kevin Mulhearn, a lawyer for the
plaintiffs, asked that Lamm – who suffers from dementia – be allowed to testify
within weeks to ensure his condition doesn’t worsen.

Koetl said he’d rule only after Lamm was examined
independently by a doctor agreed to by all parties.

New York, NY - Decades-old affiliations with anti-Semitic
groups are raising questions for Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio,
most notably his time spent in Nicaragua in 1988, where the
Sandinista-controlled government openly persecuted Jews.

The NEW YORK POST reports that Jewish leaders say that
Nicaragua’s tiny Jewish population of about 250 was constantly threatened by
the repressive Sandinista regime, which confiscated private Jewish property,
while openly supporting Yasser Arafat’s PLO.

Persecution and the threat of imprisonment caused many Jews
to flee the country.

According to records, de Balsio arrived in Nicaragua at the
age of 26, in a humanitarian capacity to help distribute food and medicine.

On the subject, de Blasio said recently, “They had a
youthful energy and idealism mixed with a human ability and practicality that
was really inspirational.”

Campaign spokesman Dan Levitan said there was “no
connection” between de Blasio’s humanitarian efforts and the anti-Semitism
practiced by the Sandinistas.

Shortly after leaving Israel for London, billionaire Idan
Ofer has given £25 million (about $40 million) to the London Business School,
where he studied in the 1980s. This is the largest single donation received by
a UK business school.

The donation was made by the Idan and Batia Ofer Foundation,
which also announced the development of a special scholarship program for
Israeli students at London Business School.

About a month ago, the institution received a £10m donation
from South African Jewish billionaire Nathan Kirsh.

The scholarship program, whose scope was not disclosed, will
be launched soon. It is aimed at further exposing Israel's future business
leaders to the global economy, while helping them accumulate knowledge,
understanding and connections.

Ofer said in a statement, "I have enjoyed a long
association with the School and believe that it offers something uniquely
valuable in the world of business education, combining strong fundamental
business and management education with an emphasis on the business community
being part of the solution for a better society."

The project, he noted, "is an important step towards
ensuring the School can continue to grow and prosper in the future, creating
new generations of leaders who can address the challenges of business and wider
society.

"My father Sammy enjoyed learning from others and
throughout his career in shipping was known to spend many hours speaking with
seamen and officers of vessels, rather than being tucked away in his office.

This sense of curiosity resonates strongly with London Business School’s
community where students are not just stretched intellectually; they become a
part of an ever-expanding international community, learning as much from each
other as from the faculty."

He added that "one of the goals of The Idan and Batia
Ofer Foundation is to ensure the next generation of Israeli entrepreneurs is
equipped to cope with the challenges of globalization. London Business School
is at the forefront of helping to meet these challenges.

The Foundation hopes
in this small way to contribute to economic growth in the region, ultimately
improving the prospects for peace and stability."

Idan Ofer, Israel Corporation's controlling shareholder,
moved to London recently after being criticized in the past few years for
benefits received by the Israel Chemicals (ICL) company (which is controlled by
Israel Corp) and the low royalties it paid the State.

These royalties were
raised in recent months. In addition, the government vetoed ICL's talks for a
merger with Canadian fertilizers giant Potash Corporation.

MAKHACHKALA, Russia — Russia’s main anti-terror agency said
Friday its forces have killed five suspected militants including a prominent
warlord during a raid in the restive southern province of Dagestan.

The National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in a statement
that the militants were killed Friday in Derbent on the Caspian Sea. It said
that security forces acting on a tip surrounded a house where the militants
were holed up. They refused to surrender and were killed in a gunfight.

The Committee said that one of the suspects, Sherif
Akhmedov, was the leader of a group of militants suspected of staging a series
of attacks on police and other authorities and running an extortion racket
targeting local businesses.

Rasul Temirbekov, spokesman for Dagestan’s Investigative
Committee, told The Associated Press that Akhmedov is believed to be behind at
least 20 terrorist attacks in Derbent in the past two years including bus
bombings and a July attack on the rabbi of a local synagogue.

Dagestan has become the epicenter of an Islamic rebellion
that spread across Russia’s North Caucasus region after two separatist wars in
Chechnya.

A Shin Bet security service investigation reveals that China
is a central financial channel for funding Hamas activity worldwide. Its
February-March 2012 probe connected Chinese banks to the transference of money
to Hamas prisoners.

The Shin Bet seized numerous documents of the transfers and
a list of accounts in which the money was deposited in China.

The key to discovering the network was the testimony of Amar
Mer’i, a West Bank money changer who had previously transferred money from
laborers from Gaza to their families, but had stopped this activity after
pressure from the Palestinian Authority to cut his ties with Gaza.

He told the
Shin Bet he was contacted by a man known as Abu Othman, who had received his
name and number from Mer’i’s counterpart in Gaza. Mer’i said he suspected Abu
Othman was a Hamas operative.

The Shin Bet arrested Mer’i at a border crossing in February
2010 in possession of $126,000 and NIS 80,000 in cash. Mer’i received the money
from two men from the village of Musmus in the Wadi Ara region.

Mer’i’s information led to a complicated web. His contacts
from Musmus, Mohammed Agbaria and his cousin Mohammed Abu Shahab, would receive
text messages from Abu Othman with an encoded telephone number of an Eritrean
national.

Agbaria would meet the Eritrean in Tel Aviv's Central Bus Station
area, take the money from him and pass it on to Mer’i, who would deposit it in
the Bank of Palestine in Yabad, near Jenin. After that, Mer’i would receive an
email message from Abu Othman with instructions on where to transfer the funds.

Most of the money would be transferred to accounts in the
Bank of China. One transfer was made to a Citibank account in New York and
another to a bank in Alabama. Several transfers were made to a HSBC bank in
Hong Kong. Some money was transferred to accounts in India and Turkey.

Mer’i personally handed over some of the cash to Hamas
activists in the West Bank as compensation for having served jail time.

The Shin Bet asked Mer’i why Abu Othman had to pay a
mediation commission to an Eritrean national, couriers from Musmus and also to
him. Mer’i said it didn't make sense to him and he suspected the convoluted
money route was illegal. He said the text messages also made him suspicious.

Mer’i said he had called Abu Othman to ask him if the money
belonged to Hamas, but was told it did not.

Altogether he carried out 40 money
transfers, totalling $1.1 million.

Mer’i also transferred money to Brookside Agra, an
Illinois-based company that sells fertilizers.

He told the Shin Bet interrogator that Abu Othman asked him
on the phone if he could handle money the latter had in Sudan. Mer’i said he
asked several money changers and the Bank of Palestine, but none of them had
any contact with Sudan.

Mer’i said that, a few days before his arrest, he received a
text message from Abu Othman with the names of three women and the sums of
money to give them. These included $3,000 to Um Faiz, $3,000 to Fatma and
$3,500 to Um Sa'ad. He said he called the three and set up meetings with each.

The money was intended as support to the families of Hamas
prisoners in Israeli prisons. Couriers Agbaria and Abu Shahab transferred funds
to Hamas families as well. In one case, Hamas prisoner Ayman Abu Daud testified
he had received $38,000 for serving time in an Israeli prison.

Abu Daud was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to 36 years in
prison after carrying out four shooting attacks in the Hebron area. He was
released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner-exchange deal. In March 2012, he was
arrested again and in 2013 he was deported to Gaza.

Before leaving for Gaza, Abu Daud testified in court. He
said, "Ashraf Abu Merahia, a clerk in the al Noor association who had been
in prison with me, called and told me he was transferring money to me as
compensation for sitting in jail: $38,000."

In April this year, Mer'i was convicted in a military court
for illegal activity. He claimed the money transfers to China were legal and
part of business, not terror activities.

The judge ruled that, due to the ban imposed on publishing
the affair, it was not possible to ascertain beyond a reasonable doubt that all
the transfers were illegal. However, the judge added, "There are many
question marks over the manner of Abu Othman's conduct - from the time he began
transferring money through others to the defendant, to the latter's arrest.

The
transfer method to the defendant indicates the funds were illegal and illicit.
The money was transferred mostly in crafty, sly ways, using false code names,
frequent changes of SIM cards in mobile phones to prevent tapping, and with the
help of two Israeli citizens. This was meant to blur the illegal way in which
the money was passed from Gaza to the defendant and through him to others
(including the families of security prisoners)."

In August, Mer'i was sentenced to 28 months in prison and
fined NIS 70,000.

The scope of Hamas’ and Islamic Jihad's use of bank accounts
in China was revealed in a lawsuit filed this summer in New York against the
Bank of China for damages. The suit was filed by the family of Daniel Wultz, an
American Jewish teenager who was killed in a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv in
2006. The legal battle uncovered the existence of a sophisticated international
network to finance Palestinian terrorism.

The suit, which was filed with the encouragement of the
Israeli government, revealed transfers of millions of dollars to the Bank of
China in the previous decade. The suit has greatly embarrassed the authorities
in China, which, according to the family, knowingly ignored Israeli warnings
that a Chinese bank was being used to launder terrorist funds.

Under pressure from China, however, Israel backtracked and
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly instructed officials not to
testify in the case against the Bank of China.

Israel has arrested a Belgian citizen of Iranian extraction
on suspicion that he was sent by the Iranian intelligence agency to spy for the
Islamic Republic.

The suspect, Alex Mans, was arrested by the Shin Bet
security service and Israel Police at Ben-Gurion International Airport on his
way out of Israel. The arrest took place two weeks ago but the information was
not made public until Sunday.

Israeli security officials suspect that Mans’ business
dealings were meant to serve as a cover for intelligence gathering and
terrorism. They said Iran was also trying to use Mans to bypass the embargo on
trade and financial transactions with Iran.

During his trips to Israel – the one this month was his
third since last year – Mans tried to make contact with Tel Aviv
businesspeople, presenting himself as a Belgian businessman who sells windows
and roofing for stores and restaurants. Several websites and a Facebook page
had been created to make him seem legitimate.

Mans was born in 1958, as Ali Mansouri, and lived in Iran
until 1980, according to Israeli security officials.

As the Belgian citizen Alex Mans, he visited Israel in July
2012, January of this year and, in his most recent visit, September 6 until his
arrest on September 11. Shin Bet officials said they suspect Mans was trying to
develop business ties in Tel Aviv on behalf of Iranian intelligence.

On his most recent visit, Mans took photographs of the U.S.
Embassy in Tel Aviv as well as the customs area of Ben-Gurion International
Airport and other sites in Israel, “including sites that interest Iranian
security officials,” the Shin Bet said. It said the pictures of the U.S.
Embassy, which were taken from multiple angles, were found on him when he was
arrested.

Mans told the Shin Bet that in early 2012 he was asked to
spy on Israel and was promised about $1 million to do so. He later received
various assignments, including to forge business ties and sign deals with
Israeli businesspeople, in an effort to secure him continued access to Israel.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which is also known
as Quds Force and which sent Mans to Israel, is responsible for several terror
attacks and attempted terror attacks against Israeli targets, including an a
car bomb near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi last year, failed attempts in
Bangkok and Tbilisi, and planned attacks in Azerbaijan, Kenya and Nigeria, the
Shin Bet said.

Mans told his Israeli interrogators that he moved from Iran
to Turkey, where he lived from 1980 to 1997.

That year he received a visa for
Belgium, where he expanded his business dealings. Nearly a decade later, he
married a Belgian citizen and changed his name to make it less distinctly
Iranian.

He later got divorced and flew around the world, living
alternately in Iran, Turkey and Belgium. In 2007 he moved back to Iran and
married an Iranian woman.

Mans said his Iranian handlers instructed him to set up a
business infrastructure in Israel to conceal his intelligence gathering. He
said his primary handler, Haji Mustafa from the special operations unit of the
Quds Force, met with him and discussed his activities in Israel. Haji Hamid
Na’amati was the main liaison between him and the special ops unit and Mahdi
Hanbabai gave Mans his assignments within Israel.

Upon arrival in New York ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's speech at the United Nations General Assembly, the prime minister's
entourage commented on the arrest. "At the same time as it condemns
terrorism on American soil, Iran sends an agent to collect intelligence for a
possible attack on a U.S. embassy," Israeli media reported the officials
as saying.

The officials reportedly added that the arrest serves as
further evidence that statements coming out of Iran do not match the criminal
actions they take, and that the Islamic Republic continues to generate
terrorism throughout the world.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Kenya's government had been warned, including by Israel, of
the high risk of an attack before the assault on a Nairobi mall by Islamist
gunmen that killed at least 67 people, newspapers reported Saturday.

Cabinet ministers and Kenya's army chief had received
information warning of a plan to carry out a major attack, the Daily Nation
said, quoting a leaked intelligence report.

On September 21, gunmen with automatic weapons and grenade
burst into the upscale Westgate mall in Nairobi in an attack that lasted four
days and left at least 67 dead.

It was claimed by Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked Shabab group as
retaliation for Kenya's military presence in Somalia.

The Nation newspaper said the treasury, interior, foreign
affairs and defense ministers, as well as the army chief, had been told of an
elevated risk.

"Briefs were made to them of increasing threat of
terrorism and of plans to launch simultaneous attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa
around September 13 and 20, 2013," according to the report quoted in the
paper.

The report also said Israel, which has close security ties
with Kenya, had warned of plans to attack Israeli property in September, a
month which included several Jewish holidays.

The Westgate mall, popular with expatriates and wealthy
Kenyans, is part owned by Israelis and had long been considered a prime
potential target.

"The Israeli embassy in Nairobi has raised concern with
the foreign affairs ministry that Iran and Hezbollah from Lebanon have been
collecting operational intelligence and open interests in Israeli and Jewish
targets around the world including Kenya," the report said.

According to security sources, Israeli services are playing
a lead role in the ongoing investigation into the attack, which saw gunmen
storm the mall and spray bullets on shoppers before hunkering down to fight off
special forces for three days.

President Uhuru Kenyatta announced on Tuesday that the siege
was over.

The head of Kenya's National Intelligence Service, Michael
Gichangi, is scheduled to be grilled by lawmakers on Monday amid growing public
concern that the state was inadequately prepared.